New trip to southern France (September 02-12)

Day1- Suvarnabhumi Airport, BKK.

Airbus A380-800

Off again for a brief period of time. I have already checked in for Doha (DOH) and Paris (CDG) with QATAR AIRWAYS (QR). I also got my boarding pass to Marseilles (MRS) with Air France (AF) from Paris. As I arrive at Terminal 1 and that I have my connection at Terminal 2F, I hope I will have enough time to catch the flight to Marseille-Provence!

Anyway, tonight I will stay over at Hamad Airport Doha at the business lounge. So, since the boarding time is close, I will continue later in Doha...

BKK to DOH flight path

The A380 is fully booked today. I noticed there was no traveling kit provided this time. However, service was good as usual. Smiling Asian air-hostesses. Hot meal with metal cutlery served soon after take-off with a glass of Spanish red wine (had a choice of two reds), followed by hot tea with Cognac. They provide more drinks later and another snack before landing. Smooth flight to the Gulf: it lasted 6:05 today.

Day 2 - Hamad International Airport, DOH.
As I won't leave for CDG until morning, I can find a place to rest and perhaps sleep for a couple of hours. At the lounge counter desk, I find out I can get an upgrade to business class on the flight to Paris. Great! It means I will be among the the first passengers to disembark in Paris with a priority pass to the police control. It will make it easier to get the connecting AF flight to MRS.
Al Mourjan Business lounge. This is a huge and truly amazing lounge with all needs provided. I asked to get a cubicle in the allocated resting area. I was able to get one at 2:00AM. Meanwhile, I found a quiet area in the lounge with a long sofa to lie down for a while. But I first paid a visit to the upstairs lounge restaurant for a snack and a glass of red Argentine wine.

Al Mourjan lounge

View of Al Mourjan restaurant

The A380-800 at HIA before boarding

Flight DOH-CDG aboard the A388 business class.

A380 business class

The Airbus A380-800 left Doha with a slight delay. It was a hazy morning. I tried to fully enjoy the onboard experience. There is a lounge with a bar behind the cabin. It allows passengers to relax and to chat with other travelers. I met an elderly couple from Melbourne going on a holiday across France as we were flying above the Greek islands. Lunch is a la carte and remains a 5* experience. The wine list offers a choice of about ten different types of prestigious wines. I chose a white champagne. The flight to Paris took 6h25.

Aircraft bar & lounge

Lunch entrée

QR route from DOH to CDG

Transit at Charles-de-Gaulle Airport.
The aircraft arrived half an hour later past the scheduled time at T3. The connecting AF flight was at T2F. Fortunately, a ground staff was expecting me to take me to the Air France gate. It only took 20 minutes. So I arrived there in time for boarding.

AF domestic network

AF flight CDG-MRS.
Unfortunately, the flight was delayed because a handicapped passenger was aboard the oncoming flight and there was no ground staff to take him out. It lasted 1:20! The A320 flew to Marseille-Provence in just 60 minutes.
My sister was waiting for me to drive me off to Arles. It was a long trip covering a 36 hour's period!

Flight route from BKK to CDG via DOH

Day 3 - Arles
Market day today. So, I walked to the Saturday morning 's market. It is always colourful and interesting. Today was Mum's 88th birthday and it was a family affair at my sister's house.
Day 4 - Arles 
Today, the whole family was there including my elder nephew from Nice with his two young boys.
Day 5 - Full day at Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert & Clermont-l'Hérault.

St.Guilhem's square

We spent the full day in the Hérault department north of Montpellier in the first foothills of Massif Central. The highlight was the village of Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert. This is an incredible place in a very narrow rocky valley,  where the medieval village is hidden. The only sight you see when you get near this place are the roofs. I will write a specific section regarding St.Guilhem-le-Désert, which is both a UNESCO World Heritage site and classified among 'Les Plus Beaux Villages de France'.
Les Plus Beaux Villages de France
UNESCO: Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert
Day 6 to 9 - Arles.
Just enjoying being at home, visiting friends and family.
Day 10 - Trip back to Thailand.
Early morning drive to Marseille-Provence Airport with my sister. Another beautiful day ahead. Not too long to wait for the AF flight to Paris. The airplane (an A320) takes off and land on time. The flight lasts 1:10. The weather is still nice over

A320 MRS-CDG

Paris-CDG Airport. There are not many traveler today. So going from T2F to T1 is long but easy. Qatar Airways counter is about to open and there is no one on my queue. I get my usual fast track ticket and lounge pass. But of course the Air France Premium Lounge has nothing to compare with either Bangkok or Doha.
A380-800 Flight to Doha.

Upper rear cabin onboard the A388

This was a daytime flight. It left CDG late again but since my transit time in Doha was comfortable, it dod not affect the rest of my trip. It took 5:55 hours to fly from CDG to DOH. The flight was smooth and I used the time to listen to some music, watch a documentary on modern architecture designs and using my laptop. We had a nice sunset over Turkey and reached Doha at night.

Transit at Hamad Intl. Airport.
Transit time was short this time. But I was able to use the Qatar Silver member lounge for a while before boarding the next flight to BKK.
Day 11 - Flight back to BKK.
The flight from Paris was not full but the flight to BKK was even lighter. In the upper economy class of the A380-800, there are 60 seats. We were only two in the cabin with two air attendants. This time, the flight was on time. I had been allocated the front window seat (nº25A) but slept on the four middle seats as the cabin was empty. But in the middle of the night, I started fo feel sick and realised it was food poisoning. The rest of the trip was no so pleasant. They actually had to whisk me out of the airplane in a wheelchair and I spent the next few hours at Suvarnabhumi clinic.